Juno Beach

I just got back from a mother-daugther trip to Florida. I went with my mom, family friend Gail and her daughter Adrienne, both whom I've known my whole life. My family owns a condo in Juno Beach, which is about 20 minutes north of West Palm Beach. I actually lived there for a summer my junior year of college while I interned at a newspaper.

It was about five days of serene relaxation. We sat by the pool/beach every day all day, went out to dinner then came back to the condo to drink and play games. I was in bed before midnight every night and up by 8 a.m. It was awesome.

But of course it wasn't without its hijinks. Here are some highlights.

*Having a nice buzz getting on the airplane in Chicago
*Discovering our plane had individual TVs for each seat. I played trivia with the rest of the plane and watched "Barefoot Contessa."
*Carrying my huge and heavy duffel bag through the Atlanta airport. On my shoulder at one point. My mom stole my usual carry-on bag and, I am a woman, so I had a lot of stuff to bring. I checked it on the way home. However, I only brought six pairs of shoes.
*Walking into The Breakers Hotel - the swankiest hotel on Palm Beach - and being CONVINCED Mickey Rourke was sitting next to us. Turns out it was just a greasy Russian.
*My mom stealing nice towels from The Breakers bathroom. We chastised her but they came in handy when we were cleaning up the condo and wanted to wash all the hand towels.
*Captain Bob, our tour guide on our boat trip on the intercoastal. He had a story for every mansion on the waterway. Very informative and I highly recommend it.
*Trying to explain Catchphrase to my mom and Gail. You would've thought we were explaining how to reprogram a nuclear bomb. Instead, they wanted to play Liverpool Rummy: a game they not only didn't remember the rules to but is much more complicated than Catchphrase.
*Gail hustling everybody in Yahtzee. Who gets three Yahtzees in one game?
*Me getting sun poisoning on the third day. This doesn't happen every vacation but it's happened before. I get a very itchy rash on random parts of my body. This time it was my chest and my legs. I promptly put myself indoors and napped and shopped the rest of the day.
*Watching the cougars at The Waterway Cafe. It's a cute restaurant right on the boat waterway. Boats dock and people have dinner or drinks. It was FILLED with women in their late 30s, early 40s chasing after men wearing polo shirts tucked into Bermuda shorts with loafers. Men in their late 60s, early 70s.
*Reading and finishing the book "Flash Forward." IT's the novel the new TV show is based on. Everybody passes out for about 90 seconds and sees their life 20 years in the future. I highly recommend it. Robert J. Sawyer is the author.
*The waiter at Kee Grill who was ready to cut us off after we ordered our third bottle of wine. We told him we were walking, not driving, and it was game on.
*Me being CONVINCED Janice Dickinson was sitting next to me on the flight home. I literally had to rationalize it to myself. OK, it's coach. Janice probably wouldn't sit in coach. And she's in the middle seat. Talk about the worst place in coach. And she has a wedding ring. I don't think Janice is married. But I wouldn't give it up. She got up to go to the bathroom and I told my mom and she said, "No way." Finally she spoke and it wasn't that raspy Top Model voice I'm used to. Cut to me and my mom walking through the airport. She points out a woman and goes "Now THAT looks like Janice Dickinson." Yeah: same woman sitting next to me on the plane.